Salmon En Papillote, with Basil Butter

Grilling and searing are, of course, great ways to serve salmon. But I also love poaching and steaming fish to retain all the flavorful natural juices. Wrapping them in foil (paper is used traditionally, but foil works very well) along with aromatic ingredients bring out the best in the tender fish. It's a must if you haven't tried this yet. 

Salmon En Papillote with Basil Butter

Salmon En Papillote
Serves 4
Ingredients
Salmon

• 4 salmon fillets
• 1/4lb basil butter (recipe follows)
• 8 tomato slices
• 4 lemon slices
• 4 bay leaves
• salt, pepper, and paprika

Basil Butter

• 15 basil leaves
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4lb unsalted butter
• few drops of lemon juice
• salt and white pepper

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. To make basil butter, blend basil and garlic in a food processor. Add remaining ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste. Blend until well combined. 
3. Place each salmon fillet on 2 layers of aluminum foil. Place a spoonful of basil butter on each fillet and top each with a slice of tomato. Add a lemon slice and a bay leaf each. Season and seal foil tightly. 
4. Place foil packages in oven. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes. 
5. Be careful of steam and juice when you open up the foil. The best way is to place those on plates and use forks to open them up slowly. Serve immediately.

5 Star Makeover: Icy Poached Fish

"Most of the famous French dishes involving filet of sole center around fish poached in white wine and coated with a lovely, creamy sauce made from the poaching liquid." 

Julia Child describes poaching fish fillets from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This month's 5 Star Makeover theme is Cooking with Wine. We can choose any classic dish where wine is a major ingredient and put our own unique spin on it.

Poached Red Snapper with Wine Ice
served with Mushroom Cream Sauce, Lemon Zest, and Scallions

I re-created Julia Child's Fish Filets Poached in White Wine and decided to present an icy, refreshing poached snapper dish surrounded with ice made from its poaching liquid, accompanied by a mushroom cream sauce, lemon zest, and scallions. For a light dish like poached fish, a low-tannin wine is most appropriate due to the lack of fat in this dish. Tannin and fattiness go hand in hand. So braised short ribs would go well with a bottle of Bordeaux or Cabernet, for example. In this case, I poached the fish in Pinot Grigio to avoid masking the light fish flavor with a high-tannin wine.

Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Fish Filets Poached in White Wine
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Ingredients

• 2 tbsp of finely chopped green onions
• 2.5lbs of skinless, boneless red snapper fillets
• Salt and pepper
• 1.5 tbsp of butter cut into bits
• 1.5 cups of Pinot Grigio and water mixture
• 1 tbsp of butter
• 1 tbsp of flour
• A handful of small cremini mushrooms
• Lemon, for zesting

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly butter a shallow fireproof baking dish that is about 2 inches deep.
2. Sprinkle half of the scallions in the bottom of the dish. Season fillets with salt and pepper.
3. Place fillets in dish and sprinkle remaining scallions over them, along with bits of butter.
4. Pour in wine/water mixture until fish is barely covered.
5. Bring dish almost to a simmer on stovetop. Lay a buttered paper over the fish, then bake for 10 minutes.
6. Remove fish and set on a plate to cool, then refrigerate. Pour 2/3 of the poaching liquid into a shallow dish and freeze for at least 2 hours.
7. Bring remaining poaching liquid to a boil on the stove and stir in 1 tbsp of butter, 1 tbsp of flour, 1 tsp of salt, a dash of pepper, and mushrooms. Boil sauce down until thickened. Leave in fridge to cool.
8. To serve, scrap poaching liquid ice with a fork. Place ice in a glass or bowl. Spoon a little bit of the mushroom sauce over the ice. Place a piece of fish over ice and sauce. Cover fish with more crushed ice. Sprinkle a little bit of lemon zest over the fish. Serve cold.

hosted by 5 Star Foodie & Lazaro Cooks!

Thank you to Natasha from 5 Star Foodie and Laz from Lazaro Cooks! for hosting the 5 Star Makeover!

The French Laundry

We finally visited Chef Thomas Keller's 3-Michelin-starred world-renowned restaurant, The French Laundry. 

Once we were seated, we were provided with two sets of menu that change daily and an ipad for wine selection. One menu was the restaurant's standard menu and the other was a vegetable menu that consisted of lighter courses. We, of course, opted for the standard menu. The restaurant also has four sommeliers to help select the best wine for each course.

The French Laundry Dinner July 31, 2011

"Oysters and Pearls"
Sabayon of Pearl Tapioca with Island Creek Oysters and White Sturgeon Caviar

"Salad of Hawaiian Hearts of Palm"
Beets, Navel Orange, Australian Black Truffle, Pickled Ramps and Nasturtium

Choice A - "Sauteed Fillet of Gulf Coast Red Snapper"
Forest Mushrooms "a la Grecque," Nantes Carrots, Sunchokes and Cilantro Shoots

Choice B - "Seven Spice-Cured Atlantic Fluke"
Hen-of-the-Woods Mushroom "Tempura," Asian Pear, Red Radish, Hass Avocado and Bonito "Gelee"

Choice A - "Flour Story Hill Farm Poularde"
Yukon Gold Potato, Celery Branch and Summer Truffles 

Choice B - "Tete De Cochon"
Brentwood Corn, Bing Cherries, Black Walnut and Arugula

"Elysian Fields Farm Lamb"
"Petit Sale," Marinated Toybox Tomatoes, Summer Squash, "Panisse" and Spanish Capers

"Andante Dairy Cadence"
English Muffin, Blackberry, Fennel Bulb, and Mustard "Aigre-Doux"

"Chamomile Sherbet"
Sunflower Seed "Granola," Summer Melon and Honey

Choice A - "Carramelia Chocolate Cremeiux"
Gros Michel Banana, Georgia Peanuts, "Dentelle" and Salted Popcorn Ice Cream

Choice B - "Nectarine Melba"
Sicilian Pistachio "Pain de Genes," Andante Dairy Yogurt, Biscotti and Raspberry Sorbet

One of the many "snacks" throughout the evening - "Assorted Chocolates"
Peanut Butter Jelly, Hazelnut, Olive oil, Ginger, Fruit, Cherry

A Tour of The French Laundry Kitchen

Real Time Monitor of Per Se, New York

Beautiful Conclusion of our Evening at The French Laundry

The French Laundry Cookbook

The Essential Thomas Keller: The French Laundry Cookbook & Ad Hoc at Home [Box Set] [Hardcover]

Try the Nutritious & Cleansing Niçoise

Sometimes I just crave a nutritious and cleansing dinner, especially near the end of the week when a fun-filled/food-filled weekend is fast approaching. I love salads but I usually prefer to pair them with protein or grains. There is one salad that pretty much has it all - an almost forgotten Niçoise Salad.  


Niçoise Salad

I like to think of Niçoise Salad as the "prettier" version of an American Cobb Salad (though I must admit that the Cobb is just as good). It is a specialty of Cote D'Azur and named for the City of Nice. If you find the salad tedious (in relation to other types of salads), you can prep for the dressing and most of the ingredients hours or the day before and store them in separate ziplock bags. All you have to do before you eat is cook the remaining ingredients and toss all of it in the herb-infused olive oil dressing!

Niçoise Salad (recipe from Simply Recipes)
Serves 4-6
Ingredients

Vinaigrette

• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium shallot, minced
• 1 Tbsp minced fresh thyme leaves
• 2 Tbsp minced fresh basil leaves
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano leaves
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Salad

• 2-3 cans of tuna
• 6 hard boiled eggs, peeled and either halved or quartered
• 10 small new red potatoes (each about 2 inches in diameter, about 1 1/4 pounds total), each potato scrubbed and quartered
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 medium heads Boston lettuce or butter lettuce, leaves washed, dried, and torn into bite-sized pieces
• 3 small ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into eighths
• 1 small red onion, sliced very thin (soak in cold water for a few minutes to get rid of the sharp taste)
• 8 ounces green beans, stem ends trimmed and each bean halved crosswise
• 1/4 cup niçoise olives (you can substitue kalamata if you can't find niçoise, but they are usually available at the store's salad bar)

Recipe

1. Whisk lemon juice, oil, thyme, shallot, basil, oregano, and mustard in a medium bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
2. Bring potatoes and 4 quarts cold water to boil in a large pot. Add 1 tablespoon salt and cook until potatoes are tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer potatoes to a medium bowl with a slotted spoon (do not discard boiling water). Toss warm potatoes with 1/4 cup vinaigrette; set aside.
3. While potatoes are cooking, toss lettuce with 1/4 cup vinaigrette in large bowl until coated. Arrange bed of lettuce on a large plate or serving platter (yes, I used a silver platter). Coat tuna with vinaigrette. Mound tuna in center of lettuce. Toss tomatoes, red onion, 3 tablespoons vinaigrette, and salt and pepper to taste in bowl; arrange tomato-onion mixture on the lettuce bed. Arrange reserved potatoes in a mound at edge of lettuce bed.
4. Return water to boil; add 1 tablespoon salt and green beans. Cook until tender but crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain beans, transfer to reserved ice water, and let stand until just cool, about 30 seconds; dry beans well. Toss beans, 3 tablespoons vinaigrette, and salt and pepper to taste; arrange in a mound at edge of lettuce bed.
5. Arrange hard boiled eggs and olives in mounds on the lettuce bed. Drizzle eggs with remaining 2 tablespoons dressing, drizzle entire salad with more dressing (if there is any left), and serve immediately.

June Gloom's Classic Dinner: Boeuf Bourguignon

I honestly can't recall the last time I made the boeuf bourguignon. It seems like such a fall and winter type of dinner. But hey, June gloom has officially hit Southern California so I have the perfect excuse to reach for Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking once again.

Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon
accompanied by Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Our community was hosting an outdoor movie night in the park with some of LA's most wanted food trucks (Sprinkles, Nom Nom, Ludo, Vizzi, Komodo, etc.) and free popcorn! We enjoyed the movie, grabbed some popcorn but still chose the boeuf bourguignon over food trucks for dinner. I served the entree with creamy garlic mashed potatoes. I find that the dish pairs best with a soft creamy starch like polenta or mashed potatoes instead of noodles, sauteed potatoes, or rice.

Here is the delicious healthy recipe I used for my creamy garlic mashed potatoes with 167 calories per serving:

Healthy Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Servings: 2
Ingredients:

• 1 medium russet potato (approx. 1 lb)
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 1/2 cup of nonfat milk
• 4 cloves of garlic (crushed)
• 1 ounce of grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Recipe:

1. Peel and dice 1 medium russet potato. 
2. Place in a saucepan, add salt, and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and maintain a boil until the potato is tender (about 20  minutes). 
3. Heat the milk and garlic in a small saucepan over low heat until it is simmering. Remove from heat.
4. Drain off water from potato saucepan and add milk-garlic mixture and cheese. Mash potatoes until all is well incorporated. Set aside for 5 minutes to let mixture thicken. 

Ready for Snack Time?

In my free time over the past week, coupled with a visit from our good friends (and newlyweds), there were quite a few snacks being concocted in the kitchen. I love snacks - for appetizers, for coffee time, for breakfast and just for whenever. So here's a few for your enjoyment:

Italian Sausage and Ricotta Stuffed Pasta, Mushroom Caviar, and Apple Sausage Pie

The Trio

Mini BBQ Brisket Slider, Onion Bun

BBQ Brisket Slider

Olive Oil & Thyme Monkey Bread (Credits go to MB and I)

Monkey Bread

Praline (Credits go to Jason and DB)

Praline

Creme Anglaise with Praline (Credits go to Jason and DB)

Creme Anglaise with Praline

Garlic Olive Crostini (Credits go to MB and I)

Garlic Olive Crostini

Craving yet?

Take Me to Paris

I have a love and hate relationship with French Cuisine. Growing up, French food never appealed to me, let alone French restaurants. I remember frowning everytime a plate was put in front of me, with food that can be swallowed in less than one bite. Aside from the small plates, each course seems to take ridiculously long to prepare because I rarely see the next course until all topics of conversation have been covered at the table. 

I am not sure how it happened - all I know is that as I cooked more and more, I noticed that every complex dish consists of French influences. A good cook knows that good food comes from patience and methodical cooking, and that's what French cooking is. 

Braised Beef Short Ribs, served with Creamed Spinach and Steamed Rice, accompanied by a glass of Merlot

Beef short ribs can be prepared in many ways: braised, grilled, barbeque'd, and seared. The French prefer braising in order to extract as much flavor as possible from the ingredients. Another key reason behind braising is actually the sauce, which can be made easily by thickening the beef broth used in braising. I served the dish with steamed rice and creamed spinach to accentuate its creaminess.